Izuchukwu Okosi
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria on Monday evening failed to reach the final of the CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt after losing 1-0 to the Young Scorpions of Gambia in the semifinals game at the Cairo International Stadium.
The Gambia’s prolific striker, Adama Bojang scored the only goal of the match in the 7th minute when he latched onto the ball after a sloppy pass from Nigeria’s Onuche Ogbolu in search of a teammate.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe seven-time African champions at the U-20 AFCON, Nigeria could not restore parity with few minutes left to play when Ahmed Abdullahi was fouled inside the penalty box.
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) handed the Nigerian side the penalty after a review of the infringement but Abdullahi’s effort came off the post and the ball cleared.
READ ALSO: AFCON U-20: Flying Eagles Beats Uganda, Qualifies for FIFA U-20 World Cup
The Gambians finished the game with 10 men after a red card to the player who committed the foul on Abdullahi.
They are yet to concede a goal in the tournament and will play Senegal in the final who themselves are also yet to concede a goal in Egypt.
Nigeria will face Tunisia in the 3rd place playoff final. The North Africans were defeated 3-0 by Senegal in the first semifinal game on Monday.
Nigeria, Tunisia, Senegal and The Gambia will represent Africa at the FIFA U-20 FIFA World Cup in Indonesia May 20 and June 11.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
